Indiana Jones and the Great Circle wasn’t playable at Gamescom 2024 – but that didn’t stop MachineGames’ upcoming adventure leaving a huge impression on the preceedings nonetheless.
Of course, attendees could head over to Bethesda’s heaving showfloor stand and watch a hefty slice of gameplay – the same presentation Eurogamer had an early chance to report back on last week. But the real talk in Gamescom’s halls was on the bombshell reveal this Bethesda blockbuster was also coming to PlayStation – and only a few months after its Xbox debut.
When I sat down for a chat with the game’s creative director Axel Torvenius and design director Jens Andersson, their delight at the confirmation was clear. How many more copies could Starfield have sold it also arrived on PS5? It’s a question we may yet find out an answer to, in time, but it’s not something MachineGames now needs to wait too long to find out for Indy. Also on the agenda – we dive into that controversial choice to make the game first-person, and discuss how MachineGames is making sure Indiana Jones endeds up standing apart from similiar adventure titles.
So, what are your thoughts on Indiana Jones coming to PlayStation 5 –
Andersson: [Lifting hands in the air, cheering] Hurray!
– next year. You’re cheering already! Getting it in the hands of more players, I imagine there’s not really much of a downside for you guys.
Andersson: No.
Torvenius: From MachineGames’ point of view, we are super thrilled and excited over the fact we will be able to be on PlayStation next year as well. The more people that can play the game – who can see all the passion and love we have put into this project and all the hard work – the merrier.
Was this something you initially didn’t think was going to happen? Or did you know, or hope, this would?
Torvenius: We can’t share the decision making…
Andersson: But it’s something we wanted to do. And it’s happening, so, yay [cheers again].
Torvenius: It’s something we’re excited about for sure.
Presumably launching the other side of Christmas means you have further time to polish it now, for PS5?
Andersson: Yeah, absolutely. And this is also the opportunity to mention our technology is based on id Tech. We have our own, modified, version of id Tech, but it is originally a multi-platform engine. So we have a great start to it already.
I’ve seen the game compared this week to Riddick, and also, obviously, Uncharted.
Andersson: Two very different games!
Torvenius: And this is a very different game also.
With Uncharted it makes sense, since Uncharted was in-part inspired by Indy.
Andersson: Yeah, it makes sense.
How do you ensure that what you’re doing with Indy does evolve the genre or surpass the games people are thinking it’s similar to, so it does stand out and be something we’ve not seen before?
Torvenius: This is a very interesting question and something we could talk about for a period of time! Yes, obviously, there’s a lot of good adventure games out there we also appreciate and love. But what we have set out to do within Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is very different. We very early on took the decision that, without a doubt, this is first-person. We have also worked very hard to dissect and analyse the IP and the character of the franchise, looking at the early movies. Quite quickly, then, you get a framework which allows you to see the boundaries if you want to hit the tone of that IP. It also gives you a framework for what we shouldn’t do to hit the tone of the IP. When we had those components fleshed out, we were already on such a different path to those games.
I wouldn’t say it’s been easy, but it made it very clear and obvious what type of game we were trying to do. We’re doing something we’ve referred to as ‘a MachineGames adventure game’. In the early days, we said, ‘well, this is action-adventure’. But then we said, ‘well, it’s not really action-adventure – it’s more adventure-action’. We’re putting the adventure first. And we’re putting a very deep narrative aspect first. What that means is we can allow the game to sometimes slow down in pace quite a bit because you need room to investigate, to hustle things together or sort things out. It’s a rollercoaster, just like the movies.
Andersson: We have a big chunk of the team that worked on The Darkness and Riddick, including myself. We have gone through this iteration of, like, ‘What’s that game? What’s The Darkness? What’s Wolfenstein?’ And now, ‘What’s Indiana Jones?’ A big part of the team has worked on three or four consecutive Wolfenstein titles, and that becomes a starting point for the studio. But then our internal term – ‘a MachineGames adventure’ – was our way to break out of that. What is a MachineGames game? It’s something that’s story-driven, cinematic, first-person, with strong characters. What’s the adventure version of that? That’s kind of where we borrowed a bit from our history – the stealth and hand-to-hand combat we had in Riddick, adventure which feels a little bit more open-ended, like The Darkness. We have big chunks, like the deserts of Giza, you are free to roam. It’s a big map and you can explore it as you see fit or you can make a beeline to try to follow the main storyline. It’s a new way for us to structure the game, and a new thing to work out how we introduce this to the player.
“We should be able to stand the test to be compared to other successful adventure games, but not be confused [with them].”
And then there’s the other new things that come with this, like giving you the chance to step in the shoes of Indiana Jones. What does that mean? Well, you have a whip – obviously that needs to be a central feature. What are we using the whip for? You scale walls and traverse with it, but you also use it in combat. It’s a great entry point into combat – you can disarm people, you can attach to people and pull them in. It helps steer the shape of the development studio from a guns-blazing approach into it being an adventure game. What else does that mean? There’s puzzles! That’s new for us. We haven’t done puzzles before. What does a puzzle look like with this kind of sensibility that we have? Well, it’s immersive, it’s physical. All these things have been challenging, but make the game unique as well.
Torvenius: Circling back to the core of your question, the position has always been that we should be able to stand the test to be compared to other successful adventure games, but not be confused [with them]. That’s a very important divide. We’re doing something we feel is very unique. Hopefully consumers will also feel like this is a fresh dish on the table.
Andersson: What does an adventure game in 2024 look like? What does an adventure-first title look like? I guess we get to decide.
One of the things that really does make it stand out is that it’s first-person – and I’m sure you’ve seen the many conversations that’ve been had about that. People want to see Indy! But, also you’re a studio with a lot of first-person history. Where do you think the mood is on the decision to be first-person now – are people coming around?
Andersson: [To Torvenius] Can I take this one, you usually do.
I’m sure you’ve had this question before!
Andersson: Well, in variations. And you know, we have good answers to it. What was so fun with the January reveal that we did, was [the reveal the game was first-person] was almost a highlight of it – that was the surprise. ‘It’s a first person game. What does that mean?’ And then there was this online discourse that has now trended down into… people seem to have accepted that we’re making a first-person game now we have managed to present what that meant a little bit. Here at Gamescom, we are showing a longer version of what that is. The question now is not about first-person but more about ‘what’s the adventure like? What’s the adventure look like?’
We already talked about some of the reasons why we stuck to our guns there to make this game first-person, but it becomes much more of an intimate experience and immersive. You get to be Indiana Jones. My feeling, at least, is people now understand that and see this as a fresh take, an interesting take. There’s always going to be people who would have preferred to see a different kind of game. But our goal is to deliver the Indiana Jones experience where you get to play Indiana Jones. And I think we are succeeding quite well there, from what I’m hearing that people are saying.
Torvenius: It’s also extremely important that this was a very conscious decision by MachineGames. This is the game. This is a MachineGames game. This is what MachineGames wanted to do, and we believe firmly it is absolutely the best choice for this particular game.
“Maybe we moved on quicker than the rest of the world, but it seems to be a non-issue when people actually get to play the game.”
Andersson: And, just because it needs to be said as well, it’s not only first person. Again, borrowing from our rich history, we pull out into third-person, we have these amazing cutscenes. Troy Baker’s performance as Indiana Jones is so spot on, it’s great we get to see a lot of personality coming through in that performance. We take every opportunity we can to pull out into third-person, to show the character. But honestly, you know, even if we did more third-person, you would mostly see the back of the character anyway.
Torvenius: It’s such an iconic silhouette. There’s a lot of nice setups [where you see that]. You’ll see plenty of Indiana Jones’ face and Troy Baker’s performance. There’s no shortcoming.
For us, and maybe we moved on quicker than the rest of the world, but it seems to be a non-issue when people actually get to play the game because they feel like Indiana Jones. That’s been the consistent feedback throughout, and that’s really what’s important here.
How important is it to draw in newcomers to Indiana Jones, as well as existing fans?
Andersson: This is a love letter to the series. There’s plenty of fan service, if you will, Easter eggs, and things like that. Of course, it’s also very important to us that this game works great, even if you aren’t a fan already. We want this to be the first introduction to Indiana Jones for a lot of people who can just try it out on Game Pass. It’s equally important.
I think I did see someone online commenting that it was ‘cool there’s a new game for that Indiana Jones from Fortnite’.
Andersson: You have to go to that audience too, absolutely. Whatever brings people to really appreciate Indiana Jones, is correct, right? We can be a part of that too.
Torvenius: Very early on, we obviously had that realisation as well. We’re obviously not making a game only for people that grew up in the 80s. We are 100 percent making a game for those people, because we are also those people. We’re absolutely making a game for ourselves, because that’s where the passion is, but it’s equally important to make sure we have a high quality game that will attract players interested in deep, narrative-driven, cinematic, first-person adventure games – so no one is singled out.
A few more quick-fire questions. Can you talk a little about how health and stamina work?
Andersson: We have health, we have stamina…
Yes.
Andersson: It’s honestly quite traditional. This becomes a personal preference, but health should matter. There are games out there where you have an effect when you’re hurt but then it goes away. Health should have a more, longer-term strategic or tactical impact. If you’re low health, you should stay low health. You need to find bandages. You need to approach scenarios a little more carefully if you’re low health. Stamina, similarly, there is a stamina management thing going on, especially in the hand-to-hand combat system, which you need to take into account so you don’t end up being all out of stamina and having this big enemy guy coming at you with a pipe. So pretty traditional. You can upgrade it throughout the game, it’s an important part of your progression.
Gina, your ally – will she be playable at all?
Andersson: No, you are Indiana Jones.
Torvenius: Gina is, of course, a big part of the game. You team up with her fairly early on, but she also has her own story, she’s not just a sidekick. There are sections in the game where you get separated, you’re not constantly with her – but she’s a big part of the game.
I hope she doesn’t turn out to be a Nazi.
Torvenius: [laughs]
Is there a bit in the game where a swordsman comes at you and you shoot him?
Andersson: That is a very specific question…
Torvenius: There exists a very specific answer. I think at the moment, what we can say is the game has a lot of… not Easter eggs, but moments that are throwbacks to the movies.
How are you set for launch now, later this year?
Torvenius: The team back home in Uppsala, in Sweden, are the most amazing team I ever worked with. They have done an insane job to get this beast together – something that’s adventure first, with a super-rich, deep narrative, and the biggest game MachineGames has ever done.
Andersson: We are so happy that, here at Gamescom, we are able to show a longer form video to showcase those adventure aspects of the game, because that’s not easy to get across in short trailer snippets. There’s a substantial puzzle element in there, and it’s a slower-paced game than people might expect – that’s really important for us to get across. So as we go towards the launch, people know what to expect.
Torvenius: And slow doesn’t mean boring! There’s high tension and super-exciting moments, and [times when it’s more] slow paced, though you’re still constantly on your toes or trying to solve something. Sometimes there’s confusion there. ‘Oh, it’s not action at the time’. No, absolutely, and you need that to be the case to feel engaged and committed to the experience.
